Andrey Kurkov (2003 [1996]) Death and the Penguin, translated from the Russian by George Bird.

The cover of Death and the Penguin has the outline of a penguin in black, one wing is the barrell of a gun and the other a handle, the trigger is superimposed on the white bib of the penguin. It’s ingenious. I was halfway through the book before I noticed. The book is genius.

    Set in the Ukraine, after the fall of Communism, Viktor Alekseyvich Zolotoroyov is a writer that can only manage to write the occasional short story that no one wants to read and no one wants to buy. He shares his apppartment with Misha. The zoo was giving animals away to anyone that could feed them. He returned with a king penguin and a companion. His luck changes when the editor-in-chief of Capital News phones him at home. He’s offered a job and a salary. All he has to do is write obituaries for prominent politicians, gangsters, those on the fast track to success. Since these people aren’t dead -yet- they’re called obelisk jobs. Viktor the failed novelist had found his metier and his calling. The downside is he’s to remain an anonymous author and for some reason he can’t really understand people are trying to kill him.

    Viktor leads a charmed life. He’s offered the protection of Sergey, a militiaman. But he’s got baggage. Misha-non penguin a friend of the editor-in-chief has been offering Viktor more work, writing obelisks for his colleagues and rivals. He leaves his daughter Sonya with him, for a few day, but when he doesn’t return he leaves a stack of dollars instead. Sergey’s niece Nina is brought in to help care for Sonya. She stays over and they become something like a family. There are ups and downs and people keep dying, but that means more work for Viktor.

    Misha the penguin becomes ill. It will cost thousands of dollars, medical expertise and the transplanted heart of a human child to fix him...Superb.  I want a penguin.